Hino Makes Truck-Safety Device Standard in Oz Market

Toyota's commercial vehicle arm, Hino, becomes Australia’s first truck exporter to provide standard front under-run protection equipment across all three categories of trucks – light, medium and heavy-duty.

FUP, incorporated in the truck's bumper bar, is designed to prevent other vehicles from becoming trapped and crushed under the front of the truck in a frontal collision.

Included on all 500 Series and 700 Series on-highway trucks from late-2011 production, Hino also has fitted FUP to wide-cabin versions of its new 300 Series light-duty truck.

Hino Australia Product Planning Manager Daniel Petrovski says the feature enhances the safety of all road users, not just the occupants of the truck.

“In the event of a severe frontal collision, the Hino FUP is intended to prevent the opposing vehicle – in many cases a smaller passenger car – from being ‘run over’ by the truck,” he says in a statement.

Petrovski says FUP also assists the deployment of supplemental-restraint-system airbags in the opposing vehicle in the event of a front-on or front-side collision and helps protect the truck's steering components, helping the driver maintain control of the vehicle and bring it to a controlled stop.

“FUP may be the difference between life and death for the occupants of a smaller vehicle,” he says.

Despite their smaller physical presence on the road, Hino's new-generation 300 Series wide-cab models also have FUP installed, along with dual airbags, antilock braking and vehicle-stability control.

“The advanced crash structure of FUP has been subjected to extensive testing by Hino's team of global engineers, including computer-aided design simulations and physical destructive testing at Hino's dedicated safety center in Japan,” Petrovski says.